The Baylor Bears track and field program represents the

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

in the sport of

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. The indoor and outdoor programs compete in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) and the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

(Big 12). The Bears host their home outdoor meets at Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium, located on the university's

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

campus.

History

Baylor's heralded track and field team has produced nine Olympic gold medals, 36 NCAA championships, and 606 All-Americas performances. A majority of the All-Americans coming under the 42-year tenure of head coach

Clyde Hart Clyde Hart (born February 3rd, 1934) is an American of track and field at Baylor University. Hart retired as head coach for the Baylor track program on June 14, 2005, after 42 years with the program. Hart is primarily known as the only coach ...

. A marquee element of the track program has been its men's 4 × 400 relay team, which has sent teams to the NCAA finals in each of the past 28 years. Baylor track and field has also produced three

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medalists: Michael Johnson,

Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Matthew Wariner (born January 31, 1984) is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) and six World Championships medals. He is the joint sixth fastest comp ...

and Darold Williamson. Baylor grads won gold in the 400 meter dash at three consecutive Olympics (Johnson in '96 and '00, then Wariner in '04). In 2005, Clyde Hart became Director of Track & Field, and Todd Harbour took over as head coach of Baylor's track and field and cross country squads.

Michael Johnson Classic

The Bears host the Michael Johnson Classic, also known as the Michael Johnson Invitational, annually in April. The track meet hosted Athing Mu's 800 m collegiate record in 2021.

Coaching staff

Michael Ford - Head Coach

Baylor Olympic track and field medalists

Men

References

{{Big 12 Conference track and field navbox

Track And Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

College track and field teams in the United States